Lord Mayor of Brisbane Cr Graham Quirk will officially open the $216 million twin towers, UniLodge Park Central located at 8 Gillingham Street in Woolloongabba, comprising a total of 1578 beds across the Sky Tower (25 storeys and 1141 beds) and Metro Tower (13 storeys and 437 beds).

At UniLodge Park Central, student engagement is one of Wee Hur’s key priorities to enhance student well-being through the usage of large communal spaces for regular events. This encourages residents of different cultural and ethnicity backgrounds to interact with one another. The opening of the facility is part of Wee Hur’s strategy to invest about $700 million in student accommodation in Australia, with sites now secured in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

CEO of Wee Hur Capital Wee Ping Goh, who is responsible for the Australian student accommodation investments said Wee Hur is committed to providing a safe and conducive environment for living and learning. “To do so we have appointed UniLodge, the largest student housing operator in Australia, to manage the facility for us,” he said. “With over 40 nationalities staying with us since we partially opened in July last year, we have a great mix of local and international students which has grown into an inclusive and vibrant community.”

Goh also applauded Cr Graham Quirk for recognising the chronic undersupply situation in the city back in 2015. “He acted on it wisely by helping developers who took on the risk in answering Brisbane’s student accommodation needs. We are very pleased to have now delivered this successfully to Brisbane and will continue to look for further student accommodation opportunities in this city as well as Australia-wide.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said Brisbane’s international student numbers and its impact to the economy has more than doubled in the past 10 years. “Brisbane is increasingly positioning itself as an international study destination of choice, where students receive a superior education alongside an enviable outdoor lifestyle,” he said. “To year ending 2018, we’ve surpassed 95,000 enrolments and the sector delivers more than $3 billion in economic impact for the city. Study Brisbane and Brisbane City Council have introduced many initiatives that contribute to the sector’s success.”